Thursday, January 31, 2019

For about a year, the Campbell County Republican Party appeared to run a blog on Tumblr that periodically flaunted the party's growing extremism. At first, I was skeptical that the blog was even real, but let's not kid ourselves. The Campbell County GOP really is that extreme.

I know the blog was real, because local GOP leaders aren't alone among Republican brass in their extremism. The Facebook page of the Republican Party of Kent County, Delaware, is one of the leading sources of similar material. And the GOP in Harris County, Texas, recently observed Holocaust Remembrance Day by posting on Facebook, "Leftism kills."

After the Campbell County GOP's Tumblr blog groaned that "liberals" took over county government in November, I had planned on discussing the blog in detail. But now I've noticed it's been taken down. What a shame, because it was pretty damn funny.

For one thing, when they claim "liberals" took over the county, nothing can be further from the truth. They're just angry because they hoped the Democrat would be relegated to third place in the judge-executive race - which would threaten the Democrats' ballot access. But that didn't happen - despite the hype by the River City News.

How madcap was this blog? The first entry included the party's usual complaints about the "liberal media", and it was all downhill from there. The blog claimed America is a "Christian nation" and endorsed electing county officials who would outlaw same-sex marriage. That's not the only time the blog thought Campbell County government bodies could overrule the U.S. Supreme Court. It also said the school board should "immediately reinstate" compulsory school prayer.

The blog listed instituting a property requirement for voting as a top Republican priority. It also echoed the cries of right-wing talking heads who laughably claim 'Net neutrality violates the property rights of telcoms. Plus, this blog said phone companies should have a right to eavesdrop on customers because the phone company owns the phone lines. It argued that if customers don't want to be wiretapped, they can just find another phone company - even though phone companies have a monopoly on landline service.

The blog boasted that Donald Trump got more votes than Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders - which is false. Clinton won the popular vote handily, and Sanders was not on the general election ballot.

This erupting fount of stupidity endorsed the government selling titles of nobility to pay off the national debt - which it repeatedly claimed was run up by "liberals." Although it's unconstitutional for the government to grant noble titles, the blog said it would be permissible in this case, arguing that the Constitution only forbids granting these titles for free - not selling them.

The blog gloated that a Republican tax bill in Kentucky would institute "Biblical taxation" and claimed that regressive taxes like the expanded sales tax are supported by the Bible. A later post said the Bible "bans" progressive taxation.

I'd love to see what local Republican politicians would say if they were asked about their membership in a party that supports the above nonsense. How would, say, Wil Schroder respond if it's pointed out to him how idiotic his party is being?

But with the right-wing media's Republican protection agenda, would it even have an impact?

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

The February issue of The Last Word is published, and it's a biggie - perhaps the meatiest in a couple years!

This ish talks about the ruination of National Geographic magazines, our hilariously bad student media, my scuttled plans to return to college, my bungling of a standardized test, people spitting out bananas, the inevitable disposal of a 'Sesame Street' calendar, and more!

Saturday, January 19, 2019

I guess this means Brossart isn't the only racist high school in the Diocese of Covington.

New videos have surfaced showing students from Covington Catholic High School - wearing pro-Trump hats - taunting a drummer at the Indigenous Peoples March in Washington, D.C. The videos have already created a nationwide outcry - and yet another black eye for local Catholic schools.

But hey, let's pretend we're surprised, since it's only about the millionth time something like this has happened in this diocese.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced the city is enacting a new program to guarantee healthcare to every resident. This is the first program of its kind anywhere in America.

So New York finally has a mayor with a major positive accomplishment - and the media falls silent. New York of 20 years ago was saddled by right-wing Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who racked up one negative achievement after another - and the media constantly fell over itself to praise him.

Let's sum this up. Giuliani was known for growing law enforcement misconduct and other tyranny, and the media made him a national star. But de Blasio is known for making sure people get healthcare, and the media largely ignores him. How often do you hear about de Blasio compared to Giuliani?

Meanwhile, I posted a link to an article from another website about New York's healthcare upgrades on Facebook, and some right-wingers complained about it until it was taken down. I didn't even add any of my own commentary to it. But at the same time, Facebook has made it harder to report posts that actually violate its stated policies.

Very few states have partisan judicial elections. But right-wing Kentucky State Rep. Myron Dossett wants to gut Kentucky's tradition of an impartial and independent judiciary. He has proposed an amendment to the Kentucky Constitution that would eliminate nonpartisan judicial elections and have candidates for judgeships run on a partisan ballot.

All this after the Republicans kept complaining that "liberal" judges were "politicizing" Kentucky's judiciary.

This would seem to violate judicial codes relating to impartiality. The real purpose of the proposed amendment is to expand Republicans' power over Kentucky politics by letting judicial candidates appeal to right-wing activists' partisanship and rake in money from partisan special interest groups.

Alexander Hamilton opposed selecting judges based on partisan labels, because partisanship worsened cronyism. In fact, the long-term trend in other states has been towards nonpartisan judicial elections - for precisely that reason. But don't tell that to the Kentucky GOP - for they support cronyism. The amendment is a naked power grab.

If this amendment passes, can it backfire right in the Republicans' faces? If poo. GOP voters are aging, and the youngest voters are overpoweringly Democratic. But by the time this trend sways more rural counties, it may be too late.

Like all right-wing power grabs, this proposal must be fought with gusto.

Friday, January 4, 2019

Back in August, I embarked (arf-arf!) on a small automotive Scholaring to southern Kenton County. This event yielded 40 Scholaring photos, and you're gonna peep 'em until a giant robot arm comes down from the sky and pulverizes us all...

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

My proud tradition of Roads Scholaring continued throughout 2018, and my July expedition - the one in which the Road Ruiner's motor blew - yielded several photos and videos. As an added bonus, this photo shoot contains a couple miscellaneous items from May!

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